Meanwhile on Mars, a celebration was about to begin. The joint U.S.-Soviet stealth archaeological team Outpost Alpha—named as such to represent the planet some now believed to be the original home of man—was preparing to commemorate the flight of the Reindeer by breaking open a case of Okhta vodka and getting drunk. A crude banner hung just inside the Mars Inhabitable Support Structure (MISS), announcing: “День нашего спасения прибывает!”